Training and evaluating teams of simulated patients

The purpose of this study was to train and evaluate teams of standardized (simulated) patients as part of a required course in family medicine for second-year medical students. During three hours of training, six women were trained to play the same person. These standardized teams played four roles during the 12-week course. Each simulator was interviewed by three student interviewers who were part of six groups of ten to 12 students, each group led by a physician. All sessions were audiotaped, and a coding system was developed. The completeness of response, new unscripted items, and accuracy of information provided by the simulators were measured using the audiotape sessions as sources of data. In addition, the degree of accuracy of the affect of each simulator was assessed by faculty and students in written case histories. The results of the study show that multiple simulators are an effective way of promoting active learning and of teaching basic clinical concepts and skills. Teams of standardized patients give students a consistent learning experience when there are constraints of student group size, time, and scheduling simulations within a traditional curriculum.